For the first few moments at dawn, Daryl forgot about the world ending. He forgot that the dead walked the earth and fed on the living. He forgot that everyone he knew and loved before the apocalypse was dead and gone; either walker food or worse, succumbing to the virus. Lying in his sleeping bag on the floor of his tent, he watched as the purple rays from the rising sun breached the horizon. In these peaceful, early morning moments, he could fool himself into believing that he was simply camping out in the woods near his home place. Camping and tracking and hunting for as long as he wanted with no one to answer to except his brother, Meryl, who didn't really care what he did or where he went, as long as Daryl stayed out of his hair.

Taking a deep breath and stretching his arms above his head, Daryl could revel in the peacefulness of the sounds and smells of the rising dawn. This was his favorite time of day. Not quite light out, but enough light for him to track any prey. The crispness of the fresh pre-dawn air seemed to renew him in a way that nothing else could. All these things were what he loved most about the outdoors. Nature had a way of cleansing itself. Maybe that was what was happening now with the apocalypse, the world was cleansing itself. Before he could delve into those kind of deep thoughts, Daryl blew out a breath and rubbed the heels of his hands against his eyes. If that were the case, then nature sure fucked up by sparing him.

Rolling to his left and wrapping his arms around the warm body next to him, Daryl knew that nature hadn't made a mistake when it spared Glenn. Glenn was the best of them all, a pure soul. He was the light that shone in Daryl's life like a beacon. A beacon that led him to be a better man than he would have ever been before the end of the world. Daryl knew he would never be good enough to deserve Glenn, but it didn't stop him from holding on and loving him with every fiber of his being.

This beautiful (yes, he was using words like beautiful now) man in his arms gave him the strength and will to push on, to fight. Everything that he did now was for this person, this man, who came into his life and broke down all the mental and emotional barriers that he had ever constructed. Daryl had learned long ago from his father and brother that emotions were only for weak men. Sissies, they would say, or even slurs like faggot and queer. He couldn't help but smile thinking of what his dad and brother would say about him now. One thing he knew for certain was that he didn't really care. The world had changed and so had he.

He didn't regret anything that had happened that led him to this place in his life. Sure, he would have liked things to be a bit easier and maybe not have the dead walking the earth. But if he changed anything in his past, then he wouldn't be where he was today, wrapped around the most wonderful, beautiful, kind man he had ever known. He wouldn't have the love of his life and know, without a doubt, that he was loved in return. With a smile on his face, Daryl dozed against the warm pliant body next to him.

"What would the others think about the big, bad redneck being such a good cuddler?" Glenn asked as he turned into Daryl's arms to snuggle closer.

"Well, let's just keep that between you and me, Chinaman. I have a rep to protect," Daryl responded with a devilish smirk and a sleepy snuggle of his own.

Glenn couldn't help but chuckle at the dichotomy of the situation. He took Daryl's face in his hands and placed a soft, gentle kiss on his lips. "I agree. I'm keeping my badass cuddling redneck all to myself."

With a growl and a happiness in his heart that he had never known in his life, Daryl flipped Glenn over onto his back and kiss the breath out of him. After a few moments, he let Glenn come up for air and smiled at him like an idiot.

"Speaking of ass..." Daryl leaned down to whisper into Glenn's ear. "I think we have a little time 'fore the others wake up."

Glenn smiled, wrapped his legs around Daryl's waist forcing their hips against one another and rubbed their hardened cocks together.

"Hell yeah, let's wake them up."